Healer Doctor Granger and the Blood Curse
by Mavynn
Summary: Healer Doctor Granger has been asked to solve the ancient blood curse of the Greengrass family. Can she do so before time runs out for Astoria? Will a handsome muggle doctor come between newlyweds Draco and Hermione? Sequel to Healer Doctor Granger
1. Prologue

"I would really appreciate it if the two of you didn't break my fiancé before the wedding." It was one week before her wedding and Hermione's two best friend's Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley were insisting on throwing a stag party for Draco.

"'C'mon Mione we 'on't break 'im" Ron said through a mouthful of food "yust show 'im 'at e'll be 'issing if 'e only gets to see you f'ver".

"That is disgusting Ronald" she whacked him with her purse "would you stop eating!" Ron just grinned around a mouthful of sausage and stuck out his tongue.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry…"

"Come on Hermione, he needs to know we are OK with him and all this. If it gets too much for the prat we will haul his arse home and let you coddle him to your heart's content."

"I most certainly do NOT coddle him!"

They both rolled their eyes "Hermione, I doubt we did any of our own homework, you coddle everyone." Pointed out Harry as Ron motioned to where she was currently doctoring his tea and she abruptly stopped.

"Oh you two are impossible! Fine, have your party, but if you break him I will never forgive you!"

"Yes you will." They both said at once laughing as she huffed and crossed her arms.

Draco chose that moment to make an appearance in their kitchen dropping a kiss on her flushed cheek. "All right, what have you two arse's done to rile her up this time? You know I am the one who has to deal with the fall out when you leave?"

"That is the best part." Stated Harry cheerfully. "Besides, you have to be a little bit nice to us. We just convinced Mione to let us throw you a stag party."

"And what makes you think I want a stag party?" Draco asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Non-negotiable, mate" said Ron swallowing the last of his sausages "Mione finally agreed so you are getting one.'

Draco looked at Hermione like she was a rank traitor. She blushed "They ambushed me. And they had a very compelling argument."

"Besides, the girls are throwing her a party of her own." Harry slugged Ron in the arm "That was supposed to be a surprise."

"Oh no" said Hermione "No parties. I have far much to do before the honeymoon."

"Oh you are going to that party." Stated Draco emphatically. "If I am going you are going." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Enough about you two I have something far more important to discuss." Interjected Ron. "I need you to make Gabrielle a bridesmaid.

"Why?" asked Hermione suspiciously.

Ron just waggled his eyebrows.

"Ronald Weasley you are not using my wedding as a dating service."

"Come on Mione, help a friend out."

"Help out your penis you mean."

"It is not like it is the first time." He waggled his eyebrows again.

"Oh, the part of the day where you remind me that my fiancé has seen your penis is here already? I never get tired of that part." Said Draco archly.

The three laughed. "You know we have children together" said Hermione.

"I prefer to think of them as magically created." The three laughed again and Hermione kissed her fiancé.

"By the way, my mother wanted me to remind you that your final dress fitting is this afternoon at Twilfitt and Tattings."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She had grown rather fond of Narcissa, much to her surprise, but she despised shopping. She resented the time it took away from her family and her work. "I would rather spend the time with Scorpius and his lessons. They have my measurements, let them work it out. They just sit there talking around me anyway."

Draco smiled at how attached his son and fiancé were to one another. "While I am certain you and Scorpius would enjoy nothing more than a day of pouring over old books looking up random facts he and my father and I have our own fittings and he is unavailable for your use as an excuse to get out of your own pinching and prodding at the hands of Madame Twilfitt."

Ron laughed as well "And don't forget Rosie is going with you, as much as she has tried to get out of it. You two are far too alike for my piece of mind."

"I haven't forgotten Ronald, what time are you collecting her from the burrow?"

Both Rose and Hugo were spending the week leading up to the wedding with their grandparents. Normally they alternated weeks between Ron's and the Manor but Ron was busy with opening a new store and Hermione was busy with the wedding and their grandparents were always happy to have them. The week before they had spent with Scorpius at Lucius and Narcissa's summer home. Draco's parents had taken to them as if they were their biological grandchildren and cheerfully spoiled them as much as they did Scorpius. Hermione had been concerned at first that old blood prejudices would surface, but she was happy to have been proven wrong.

"I will pick her up in an hour and we will meet you in Diagon Alley." It had been decided Hugo was too young to fully participate in the wedding so he would remain home with his grandparents.

Kissing her fiancé goodbye Hermione left to get ready to go meet her future mother in law and daughter for said day of pinching and prodding.

The day was made endurable by spending it with her family. Watching the interaction between Narcissa and Rose was truly heartwarming. She wished she could go back and tell her teenage self that her hopes and dreams of a better future were not without merit. That even the darkest seeming people could change and grow given a chance. That love may not conquer all but it could heal old wounds and make old scars, battle wounds and pains endurable.

At the end of the day she pulled Narcissa aside hugged her and thanked her for helping to create a world where her children would not face the same pain and prejudices both of them had faced in their youth.

She must have told her son about it because Draco thanked her that night for making his mother feel like part of the new world that was being created. "You cannot imagine what it has been like for her. She has felt ostracized from society, but you take her out and treat her like she was anyone else. Like none of the past matters to you. The one person who has every right to shun her. It is … humbling to her."

"Oh Draco. It DOESN'T matter to me anymore. I would be the worst sort of hypocrite if I held grudges after all I have done to encourage others to heal old wounds."

Sensing the sincerity of her words Draco could say nothing over the constriction in his throat. He just gathered her close and pressed his face in to her hair.

Draco may have complained but he was secretly touched by the effort Harry and Ron had put in to his stag party. They had invited his friends from school and went all out. It was just the right blend of tasteless and tasteful. Nothing so risqué that Hermione would complain,

The dancers stayed mostly dressed. They danced close, but touching was strictly forbidden. It seemed there were some benefits to having his fiancé have male best friends after all. They knew just how far they could push things without crossing any lines. He was surprised at how good a time he had.

Hermione wished she could say the same. She spent the night administering sober up potions, explaining to male strippers that she was not interested in dancing with them and scourgifying vomit off of one area of her body or another.

The day of the wedding was bright and beautiful. As if the earth itself wanted to celebrate with them. The dress Hermione had chosen was a simple cream color with red accents to match the color scheme of her wedding décor.

Harry gave her away, Ginny was her Maid of Honor and she did choose in the end Gabriell as one of her six brides maids, she worked hard to not shake her head as Ron escorted her down the aisle.

They had chosen as their wedding ceremony to enchant roses to never die for their first gifts as bride and groom and to have their officiant, in this case Headmistress McGonagall, recite the rose ceremony for them.

 **"** Your first gift to each other for your wedding today has been your wedding rings - which shall always be an outward demonstration of your vows of love and respect and a public showing of your commitment to each other. In addition, you both have given and received one of the most valuable and precious gifts of life - one I hope you always remember - the gift of true and abiding love within the devotion of marriage.

You now have what remains the most honorable title that exists between a woman and a man - the title of "wife" and "husband." It is now my great privilege to be the first to address you as such and for your first gift as wife and husband, that gift will be a single red rose bud.

 **(McGonagall hands each a red rose bud)**

The rose is considered a symbol of love and a single rose always means only one thing - it means, "I love you." So it is appropriate that for your first gift that gift would be a single rose bud.

Please exchange the rose buds as your first gift to each other as wife and husband.

Within these rose buds, if given proper loving care, is the potential for an even more beautiful expression of Life and Love in the form of the mature flower. And so it is with your marriage. At this point your marriage is like these rose buds - ready, with proper loving care - to unfold into a very beautiful expression of life.

Draco and Hermione, I would ask that where ever you make your home in the future - whether it be a large and elegant home - or a small and graceful one - that you both select one very special location for roses; so that on each anniversary of this truly wonderful occasion you both may take a rose to that spot both as a recommitment to the vows which you have made those present on this beautiful day.

Those of us who are already married know that marriage, like life, brings with it many joys and also many challenges. We also know that love, while beautiful, does not always show its prettiest face. There are days when we may find it hard to express the depth of our love for one another.

Sometimes it is difficult to find the right words. It might be difficult to find the words to say "I am sorry" or "I forgive you"; "I need you" or "I am hurting". If this should happen, if you simply cannot find these words, leave a rose at that spot which both of you have selected - for that rose then says what matters most of all and should overpower all other things and all other words.

That rose says, "I still love you."

It is wise to understand this as a statement of love and the need, or request for that extra bit of tender loving care permits the beauty of the rose to come forth from the rose bud. So also will that love permit the beauty of maturity to come forth from your marriage in every situation. Your partner should accept this rose for the words which cannot be found, and remember the love and hope that you both share today.

Draco and Hermione, if there is anything you remember of this marriage ceremony, it is that it was love that brought you here today, it is only love which can make it a glorious union, and it is by love which your marriage shall endure. Whatever the situation, love, understanding, acceptance and forgiveness can make everything right.

And with that, Draco and Hermione became husband and wife in the presence of their friends and family.


	2. Home for the Holidays

**Chapter 1**

 _Five Years Later_

Hermione and Draco stood side by side with Ron, Rosie and Hugo waiting for Harry, Ginny and their children.

"There they are" said Hermione, with a sigh, and it looks like James has got Albus all upset over which house he will be in again, Honestly Ron, I swear that boy inherited everyone of your Weasley genes."

"HEY!"

All three kids laughed.

"So now, about little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath to his daughter. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"What?! You beat Draco in every test and look how that turned out for you two!"

"Are you saying you want your gene pool mixed into mine, Weasley? Looking to breed out that red hair? Potter's black not enough for you?"

"Breed? What? No! I don't want the word breed anywhere near my daughter!" He pulled Rose in to a way over protective fatherly hug causing Draco and Hermione to laugh as the other three joined them.

They saw the children off, with much sobbing from Hermione about sending both of her babies away and how they were far too young to be away from her much to both of their embarrassment.

Draco promised to make it up to her with long vacations on tropical beaches if she would stop embarrassing their children on the platform. She reluctantly agreed but only if he also promised to revamp the library. he grumbled about why she couldn't just have a nice cheap shoe or jewelry obsession like other women.

The next few months passed happily for the couple. Hermione had given up her private practice and was focused solely on the ministry. She had become head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Artifacts, the same position once held by Arthur Weasley before his promotion, and just the year before in a move that was popular in the greater wizarding community was named Minister of Magic.

She and Draco continued to try and raise their children in as normal a home as possible. Any Aurors who escorted them had to remain very discrete. They had been at Kingscross, but had dressed in ordinary wizarding robes and were absolutely forbidden from scowling or frightening people in any way.

Finally it was almost the holidays, when they would be expecting the children home, their one Slytherin, one Gryffindor and Harry's one Slytherin and one Gryffindor, it turned out James had been such an ass that Albus did not want to be in the same house with him.

Hermione had gone overboard in decorating. Hugo, who was spending the week with them had escaped to Draco's study specifically because Hermione was not allowed to decorate it in any way. She came in once with an armload of something twinkling and been ordered "OUT" by her husband and her 10 year old son who promptly clinked glasses, one brandy, one pumpkin juice.

Later than evening Emalina delivered a note to her. Pulling it out she frowned. Going in to Draco's study she looked down at Hugo "Sweetheart, go with Cubby for your afternoon exercise please, Draco and I have something to discuss."

"Awww… do I have to?"

"Why do all little boys ask me that?"

"Yes you have to."

He went outside reluctantly. Draco raised an eyebrow.

She handed him the parchment. "It's from Astoria."

He sighed. "Scorpius has refused to see her every other time. Why is she pulling this shit near the holidays?"

"She says the time has come to put her affairs in order. That she doesn't have much longer. She would like to see her son before she dies."

"She said that five years ago and yet, here she is still writing, still trying to wreck our holidays. Scorpius is your son far more than he is hers."

"Draco, you know I love Scorpius like he is my own, but I cannot deny his birth mother the ability to try to reach out to him if he will allow it."

"Fine, but only on the condition that you go with him. If he agrees to go at all. And he won't I assure you."

She knelt at the ground at his feet and laid her head in his lap and let him stroke her hair the way he liked. It was amazing how it went from being the thing he had teased her about the most to the thing he loved most about her.

"You know, my love, that assurance may be some of the problem."

"What do you mean?" he asked sleepily. It was also funny how playing with her hair did that to him.

"Well, if he thinks you don't want him to go… Scorpius idolizes you. He would never do anything to hurt you. If he thought seeing Astoria would hurt you…"

Draco's hand stilled.

She circled her arms around his knees. "I know how hard it is, but you have to tell him it is OK. "

He went back to stroking his hair.

"OK".

When the kids came home, they called Scorpius in to the study.

"Sit down son" said Draco.

"Am I in trouble? Scorpius looked worried.

"No, sweetheart, your father and I are very proud of you. Your Professors say you have been doing incredibly well, you and Rose are at the top of your classes."

"Not in flying" smirked Draco "Scorpius is in a league of his own."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ok… are you getting ready to ask me for a loan?"

"He is definitely your son." said Hermione amused.

"No, Scorpius, it is Astoria, she has…"

"No thank you, may I go now, we have plans tonight at the Burrow."

"Not just yet, son." Draco said with a sigh, "She has indicated she may not have much time left.

"Please send my condolences. If it gets late may we spend the night?"

"Scorpius Malfoy, we are discussing this!"

"No, Father YOU are discussing this" he only called Draco "father" when he was angry "I am trying to leave to hang out with my grandparents."

"OK, I will discuss you will listen. I do not want you refusing to see your dying mother because you think I will be upset if you do. I know how much she hurt you…"

"No Dad, she hurt you, I barely remember her. The only mother I really remember is Hermione. I don't really need another one. Hermione never hurt either of us. Why would I want to go visit a woman I don't remember who hurt you?"

"Because son, sometimes the choices you make now will come back and haunt you as an adult. Because sometimes the choice to do what is good and kind or what is easy… well, it matters. And it matters a whole lot more than what I think about it."

"If ... and I do mean IF I choose to go… will you go with me?"

"No son that is just not something that would be healthy for any of us."

Hermione took his hand "But I will, and I will stay with you each step of the way."

Scorpius held out his hand and waited.

"Fine!" she said rolling her eyes half in annoyance half in amusement "But you know the rules, I get it back as soon as we are done!" she handed over her mother's wedding ring, which he promptly put on the chain around his neck before he left the room.

"You know" Draco mused "I thought you might have wanted to get married in that."

"And give up the only binding I have over him? No way, the teenage years are coming up! I need every advantage I can get."

A week later Scorpius and Hermione were outside of a hospital room.

"Take your time, buddy, I am right here."

Nodding and taking a deep breath, Scorpius opened the door. Lying in the bed was a very frail looking woman. She looked too thin and translucent to be real. Tubes filled with various glowing liquids surrounded her bed. She lifted her head "Who is it?"

Scorpius took a deep breath "Hello Mother."


	3. The Return of Healer Doctor Granger

**Chapter 2**

The meeting between mother and son had not gone as well as Hermione had hoped nor as bad as she had feared. It was all very… polite. And very uncomfortable.

In the Astoria asked if Scorpius would visit her again. He had responded with "I will speak with my parents about it." and left.

Hermione stayed a moment "I am sorry, he is not usually so cold, he is actually very warm and loving, it is just…."

"This must be very hard for him. I know I caused him and his father a great deal of pain. You have done wonderfully with him. He clearly adores you. I assume his coming today was your doing?" the ill woman looked longingly at the door where her son had just left.

"It may not seem like it now but he would have regretted it if he had not come. And I could not deny you the ability to see your son." Hermione answered kindly.

"I hope they know how lucky they are to have you."

"I remind them every day." Both women smiled.

"I did not ask you here merely to say good bye to my son, there is something you need to know. Something I had been too self absorbed until recently to realize…" The woman looked so serious she was beginning to frighten Hermione.

"What is it? What…?"

"My condition is not an illness as I told you before, it is a curse." Hermione nodded. "One that is borne by the _Greengrass_ women. To be borne by only Greengrass women…."

Hermione gasped "It must be carried by Greengrass _men_!"

"Precisely. Either my son must never have children or the curse must be broken. As I am the only living person who carries the condition I am also the only living test subject."

Hermione looked at her in horror "This isn't about Scorpius at all. You… all you wanted was to get me in here to help you find a cure."

"Is it a crime to want to live Doctor Granger? Draco would never have spent one knut on my treatment but to find a cure for our future granddaughters? He will down hospitals in galleons."

Hermione left the room shaken to her core but put on her brightest smile for Scorpius' sake. "Let's go home and make sure your father didn't fall off of his broom without us, shall we?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, sweetheart, why do you think anything is wrong?"

"You only grab your arm like that when something is wrong. And no offense, but you are the world's worst liar, it is why we always beat you at chess."

"I… I guess I am just more tired than I thought. Please sweetheart, let's just go home. OK?"

"OK…" he looked at her suspiciously.

The very minute they got in their own floo Scorpius shouted "DAD! Hermione is grabbing her arm again!"

"Traitor!" she hissed at him.

"You always said a family has nothing to gain by keeping secrets. You won't tell me but I bet Dad will get it out of you." Smug little jerk wore his father's smirk like it had been grafted on.

"Darn you Malfoys and your arrogant hides, I had PLANNED to tell your father."

"Get what out of you, planned to tell me what?"

"Yeah, good luck with that, again, worst liar ever," He dropped the ring in to her hand and sauntered off.

"That kid is more and more like you every day."

"I will take that as a compliment."

"I don't know how you possibly could."

"Darned Malfoy arrogance?" He wrapped his arms around her. "Now why don't you tell me what has you so upset?"

"In the study and put up a silencing charm." He frowned but did as she asked.

"Your ex wife is a heinous bitch!"

"Whoa, language, I agree, but I have never heard you say any words stronger than darn. Well, outside of the bedroom." He smirked.

"This is no time for joking Malfoy!" he knew when she used his last name it was serious. "I have to save that bitch and I have very little time to do it!"

"Exactly what do you mean you have to save her? Why? Let her rot!"

Hermione related to him what the other woman had told her.

"Shit" he sat down hard "do we believe her?" she took a moment to appreciate how her husband always said "we" they were partners in everything.

"I don't see that we have a choice. She pushed it up against a deadline so tight that I don't have time to research the truth of what she is saying."

"Well, she was right about one thing. I will throw every Malfoy resource at this."

"And I have some time off coming from the Ministry, there is nothing so pressing that Harry can't handle. So it looks like Healer Doctor Granger is coming out of retirement."

Rose hated to admit it but sometimes the Burrow was just too much for her. There were some places that were too happy some places that were too sad and no place that was just quiet. She loved her family. She loved that Scorpius loved her family because she knew that right now he needed a lot of family to surround him. But she just needed some quiet time away.

And when she needed that she went to the Manor. Not her mother and stepfather's but to her other grandparents. She sometimes thought it was funny how she thought of Draco as a stepfather, but did not consider his parents step anything. She rarely thought about it too deeply.

And it wasn't strictly true that she went to the Manor, she went to her grandfather. She had a special bond with Lucius. He would ask her about school, sure, but not the way other people did. He asked about the subjects she liked and did she have any trouble with the teachers. He never asked if she was the top at anything. He just wanted to know if she was happy. No one else seemed to care if she was happy. Just if she was the best.

And in turn, with her he just got to be Grandfather. Not supporter of You Know Who. Not Death Eater. Not ex Azkaban prisoner. Just Grandfather. He remembered the first time she had ever asked him to take him out. He told her that would not be a good idea. She had asked out right if it was about the war. But not in a judgmental sad way, just matter of fact. He was so surprised that perhaps for one of the first times in his life he told the unvarnished truth. "Yes, people won't be too happy to see me out in town."

She had just cocked her head and with her heart melting smile said "You mean wizard people. There are places where it won't matter at all."

He had looked at her confused for a bit and then slowly smiled. Yes, there were places he could take his grandchild. And they were at one of those places now. He was still Lucius Malfoy. You were not going to catch him at one of those foul smelling places with the yellow arches (he refused to call that foul bright color golden anything) they were at a nice bistro in France in an all human town, well, almost all human, there were two refugees in their midst, having brunch and practicing her French, her pronunciation was much better now and they walked along arm in arm just enjoying the day.

He was teaching her how to relax and she was teaching him how to rejoin the world.


	4. Doctor Grey Ewen

One of Hermione's closest colleagues in the hospital was Healer Grey Ewen, He was young and very talented. Ermione had consulted with him several times on some very sensitive topics.

He was also extremely handsome. Not, in her opinion, as handsome as Draco, but still, he drew enough attention that all of their lunches, and this one was no exception, were interrupted by some young nurse who needed something signed "urgently". Hermione found it amusing. Grey found it exasperating.

Just as the latest young nurse left he turned back to face her he found her burying her face in her steaming tea.

"Were you mocking me Minister Granger?" he asked with mock severity.

"Oh not at all Healer Ewen, I do believe you should recommend a specialist for that nurse, however, all of that blinking cannot possibly be good for her eyes." She could not hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. He joined her after a moment drawing stares from those around them.

She supposed it was to be expected the Minister of Magic and a handsome young healer having lunch.

Never mind that she was happily married and they were in the hospital cafeteria not a romantic café, people did love their little thrills.

"So tell me more about this curse" he asked after casting the obligatory silencing bubble around them.

"It is carried by the Greengrass women and so must be passed on through the mother's DNA but only to son's." It was a little easier talking to Grey since he was muggleborn and like her he had also duel trained as a muggle doctor. He had not gone on to specialize in the muggle world, but he still knew a great deal about how muggle's treat maladies.

"So carried on the x chromosome and triggered by the y."

"Yes, but not every male will trigger the curse. Astoria believes it is because she had a child with a pureblood heir." Hermione related.

"Due to the genetic intermingling the pureblood may well play a factor in the determination of who is likely to trigger the condition. There have also been genetic studies performed that suggest the first born gets a larger genetic endowment if you will. They theorize this is why older siblings often perform better on tests. But those are very preliminary and highly disputed theories…" he drank his tea thoughtfully.

"For intelligence, perhaps" she did not want to think her intelligence was merely due to a larger dose of "genetic brilliance" and not her own hard work "but perhaps in this application it has some merit. Do you have time to look at her lab work and give me an opinion?"

"I can absolutely do that. This could be a ground breaking case. Your career is already well established _Minister_ Granger" he smiled "but we lowly mortals must still work for it!" she laughed and they clicked their paper cups together.

After lunch Hermione went to her office and poured over every scrap of information in Astoria's medical files. If there was a way to combat this she would find it.

The curse was systematically destroying her white blood cells much like leukemia does, but there were no traces of that disease in her system.

With such a low white blood cell count every illness she came across could easily kill her. And the destruction of those cells had to be an incredibly painful process. Determinedly she stuffed down any sympathy or kind thought she had about the woman. This was after all the woman who had nearly destroyed Draco. Of course if she had not Hermione would not have been there to meet and fall in love with him. She liked to believe she was not so selfish as to be glad for his suffering for bringing him to her.

As she was working Grey came in and the two worked on the files together to find everything they could.

She had not realized how late it was until she heard a rap at her office door. Looking up from where she and Grey were side by side looking over enhanced images of Astoria's blood cells she saw Draco standing in the doorway.

"Hermione?" he asked in the usually aloof manner he reserved for when they were in public.

"Hello love" she said smiling tiredly at him as she came over to allow him the one kiss on the cheek her permitted her in public. He surprised her by kissing her full on the lips and wrapping an arm possessively around her waist. He winked down at her causing her to blush.

Grey was watching the two of them as he stood up and began collecting his things. "Grey, this is my husband, Draco Malfoy. Draco, this is Grey, or Healer Ewen if you prefer.

'I preferred _you_ call him Healer Ewen' thought Draco, but here shook the other man's hand politely, never taking his arm from around Hermione's waist.

She resisted the urge to roll here eyes. She was sure if his upbringing had not forbidden it he would have pee'd a circle around her.

"I came to pick you up for dinner, unless you would prefer to eat at home tonight?" he asked with a smirk.

She shook her head. "Yes, love, I would rather go home. Grey, tomorrow?"

"Absolutely" the healer said on his way out the door.

As long as Draco's possessiveness did not turn to full blown jealousy she found it endearing and was willing to allow him his moment of being a male. Wrapping her arms around his waist she turned until her face was pressed in to his chest.

He felt bad for being so inconsiderate. It was clear she was exhausted. "Let me get you home. I will draw you a bath and we can have dinner in our room tonight."

Stifling a yawn she asked "What about Scorpius?"

"He is with my parents tonight." They both looked at each other and grinned. There was only one reason Scorpius usually attended his grandparents without being badgered in to it like most children his age. Rose must be there.

Later at home relaxing in the tub, Draco came in and sat on the edge running her cloth across her back. "That's lovely Draco, thank you."

"So, tell me about "Grey" you two seem awfully familiar."

She reached out and took his hand kissing the palm. "He is a muggleborn doctor and a healer who has agreed to help me look in to Astoria's case."

Great, two things they had in common "And nothing else comes to mind when you think of him?"

"Yes, one thing. He is an incredibly attractive man." She could see Draco's eyes narrowing in his reflection in the mirror she paused for a bit just to make him sweat it out. "It is rather annoying actually. Whenever we have lunch to discuss the case, all of these flighty young nurses come up to demand his attention. We put up a silencing charm, what we need is a shield charm." She knew she was being cruel but could not resist teasing him a little.

"I see. And you want all of his attention for yourself." He was practically growling at this point.

"Darned right I do. I have a far more attractive husband to come home to and I do not want his attention diverted so it takes me twice as long to get back to him. Even when he acts like a jealous prat." She stood from the bath and wrapped a towel around her.

"That obvious was I?" he smirked, his arrogant swagger back at being told he was far more attractive."

"Just a bit, love, but it is OK. I wouldn't be very happy if you were to suddenly start working with a young attractive female colleague either."

He laughed and after watching her dry her hair with her wand decided she'd already had enough time to recover from the days hard work.

Scooping her up into his arms he carted her off to their bedroom.

"Draco, what are you up to?" she asked suspicioucly.

"Proving I am not only more attractive, but far more talented as well."

She had to admit, he wasn't wrong.

The next day she went to work with a much clearer head. She just had a feeling today she was going to have a breakthrough.

There had to be something in the files she was missing. Some clue that would suddenly make all of this clear and solvable.

Or perhaps it would be found in one of the history files of the other Greengrass women. It had to be here somewhere. If she could discover who had cursed the Greengrass family perhaps….

That was when it hit her. She was approaching this as a disease.

It was a CURSE and curses could be broken!


	5. The Curse Breaker

**I want to take this time to respond to some of my reviews both HDG and HDGBC.**

 **Not every family is comfortable with a stepparent being called "Mom" or "Dad". My husband raised my children primarily as we lived in California and their father in Missouri. They quite thought of him as a father but never called him Dad. I am OK with families who do, but it is not for everyone so I do not write my characters that way. It was not meant as a slight against anyone's relationship with a step or co parent.**

 **I did not write more on the topic of his depression because I wanted to focus on his healing and not create a primer on how to take one's life. I understand for realism it may have been better but I am OK with not being 100% realistic on this very sensitive topic. My byword is and remains sensitivity. BUT to be very clear not all who deal with PTSD and/or clinical depression have ever made an attempt on their life. I have suffered from clinical depression my husband suffers from both. Neither of us have ever made an attempt on our own life or the lives of anything larger than a spider.**

 **To all who simply want more? More you shall have! Big love to all!**

Hermione immediately sent out two owls one to St. Mungos and one to Gringotts and poured herself a big mug of tea and waited.

Her first guest to arrive was the one she needed most. The best curse breaker in all of Gringotts, in all of the wizarding world as far as she was concerned, and certainly the only one likely to drop everything and come rushing to her aid. Bill Weasley.

"Bill! It is so good to see you" she cried coming around her desk to kiss him on his cheek.

He laughed "It is not every day the Minister of Magic sends me a personal owl requesting my presence. Why are we meeting in your old lab and not in your regular office?"

She motioned for him to sit and poured him a mug of tea "The matter I need to consult with you about is not a Ministry matter, but a personal one. We are waiting for one of my colleagues to arrive, but while we do I will catch you up to speed."

While waiting for Grey Hermione filled Bill in on Astoria's condition. She showed him all of the tests they had ran and explained exactly how the curse was attacking her white blood cells. While she was doing so Grey showed up and was quickly introduced. To his credit he did not need any unnecessary explanations about why the famed Gringotts curse breaker was being consulted, merely proclaiming Hermione bloody brilliant for thinking of it, causing her to blush.

"OK, I see the problem, or I think I do" bill said, "some of the medical terminology has left me in the dust, but I am not sure why I am here. I have no experience in magical diseases, Hermione, what can I possibly help with that the best healer minds of several hundred years have failed at?"

"That is exactly it, Bill, the best HEALER minds have worked on a magical DISEASE. This is not a disease. It is a CURSE. Curses can be broken. And there isn't anyone better in the wizarding world at breaking curses than you are." She smiled brightly at him.

He shook his head "I don't know about the best… but you actually may be on to something… I could not just break the curse… it may be a curse but it acts like a disease… and that may have been the problem all along. Some may have consulted healers, some may have consulted curse breakers, but I doubt anyone would have thought to have both work on it at the same time. This could be … well, it could be ground breaking work Hermione."

Grey nodded "It could bring hope to some in the Janis Thickey Ward."

Hermione could not help but think of Neville's parents. The Cruciatus spell was a curse… could something like this help them? It was darned sure the only thing that stood a chance.

"we will need a bigger, more secure place to work" mused Bill "I doubt we can just break in to Hogwarts and use the Room of Requirement, so we will have to…"

"No, we can't do THAT" interrupted Hermione, "but it was so useful for training there, Harry had a duplicate created here for training Aurors, I am certain he would let us borrow it."

Bill stared at her for awhile "I am certain you get tired of hearing this Hermione, but you really are the brightest witch of her age."

"And now I am married to the brightest witch of his age and I want our grandchildren to stand a chance. To never face this curse. A lot is riding on this cure." She looked over the piles of information they had before them.

"We will solve this Hermione, we just need resources." Grey assured her.

Having walked in at the last of the conversation determined to take her to lunch and warmed by his wife's words about him, Draco spoke from the doorway "If it is a matter of resources, you will have all you need. My vaults are open to you and this project."

Bill, knowing how reluctant Draco was to show any public displays of affection was amused to see the very un-Draco like kiss Hermione was the recipient of. He was going to be sure to share this little tidbit with his wife when he got home.

"Grey, Bill I will let you know when I have secured the Auror RoR for our use, please put together a list of materials and whatever other resources we will need to get this started." Both men nodded at her as she left the office arm in arm with her husband.

Turning to one another they were not surprised to see equal expressions of amusement mirrored on the other's face. "Quite possessive isn't he?" asked grey

"He doesn't have reason to be suspicious of Hermione, but he does have reason to have trust issues in relationships, so I would imagine you are going to give him fits for awhile." Bill laughed.

"I wish there was some way I could reassure him I have no designs on his wife." Grey looked concerned.

"In his place would there be anything that would reassure you?" Bill asked.

"hmmm… perhaps if the other man were willing to turn in to a very ugly very old _woman._ I am not willing to do that for the record." Grey laughed.

"I don't blame you mate, should we get started on that list. I don't know how familiar you are with my ex-sister in law, but when she says she wants a task done she doesn't have much patience for time wasting."

"Oh I am very familiar. I once watched her take a visiting lecturer to task for failing to stay on topic and missing an entire topic of discussion. One she had apparently been looking forward to."

"That sounds like our Hermione. Is there any reason this list can't be created over lunch and drinks?"

"None that I can think of" Grey replied with a smile.

Hermione knew exactly why Draco had shown up. He wanted to make it very clear that her lunches were not available for use by attractive young healers. But since she got lunch with her husband out of the deal she was willing to let it slide. Plus it got the gossip mongers off of her back for a change. There was absolutely nothing salacious about the Minister of Magic having lunch with her husband. Well…. Not anymore.

"You know" she said, "we used to be the talk of the town, the golden girl out with the platinum blonde bad boy. Now I think the only reason we get the good seats is because you are disgustingly rich."

He kissed the inside of her wrist "Nonsense love, I am certain the Minister of Magic could command tolerable seats all on her own. They wouldn't give you the _best_ seats in the house, but tolerable ones."

She arched an eyebrow "And why wouldn't I warrant the best seats?"

"Because I would already be sitting at them?" he smirked at her.

"Oh and just what would you be doing at these best seats in the house?" she huffed?

Laughing he wrapped his arms about her waist and kissed her in a way that was absolutely scandalous "Why waiting for you to join me, love."

After their very lovely lunch out Draco delivered her back to her office and left her to her work. There was a great deal to do to get ready for the serious work on cracking the curse.

Harry was more than happy to allow them use of the Auror RoR for their project as long as they kept mindful of the training schedule.

Bill and Grey hit it off very well. Fleur was delighted to see her normally reclusive husband making friends. He had been so isolated due to his scarring and "wolfish" qualities near the full moon.

When Bill took Grey over to meet his parents Arthur was delighted to have another muggleborn to pick the brains of over anything and everything muggle related. Molly realized when Arthur retired she had lost the battle on his muggle item collection and these days just tried to keep it all contained in his workshop.

Draco was very surprised to see Grey sitting at the Weasley dining table when nest they had dinner there. He knew he would have to keep all jealous thoughts and actions to a bare minimum if he did not want the entire Weasley-Potter clan mocking him for years to come. Why did his wife have to come with such an extensive adopted family?


	6. A MEDICAL Exam Draco

**Chapter 5**

That dinner with the Weasleys was one of the last family events Hermione and Draco shared for the next several weeks.

Hermione had become so busy with research into the Greengrass blood curse that she fell into bed exhausted each night when she came home. They rarely shared their meals together any longer and with Scorpius off at Hogwarts now Draco was not ashamed to admit he missed his wife. Even her work at the Ministry had not kept her this busy.

Nor had it exhausted her quite as much. He did not like the way she was working herself so hard. Even when she was at home she was asleep much of the time. And it was clear it had lowered her immune system. She had picked up some sort of stomach virus and had spent the last week vomiting up nearly everything she ate.

Not wanting to pass it on to him she would not even sleep in their bed, instead going back to the room she had used in their suite in the early days when she had merely been his live in therapist.

The forced separation from his wife was starting to make his imagination run wild. He was becoming more and more certain that she was avoiding him. She was up and out of the manor before he woke and asleep before he returned from work.

She certainly wasn't avoiding Grey Ewen though. Oh no, _him_ she made plenty of time for. Part of him, the not jealous husband part, told himself he was being ridiculous. That she was only spending time with the man because he was a healer and helping her research the curse so that Scorpius' daughters and granddaughters would not face the same tragedy as the rest of the Greengrass family had. This part reminded himself that Bill Weasley was there the entire time helping them work on breaking the curse and the two could hardly be carrying on a torrid affair in the presence of her ex-brother in law.

The jealous husband part was certain where there was a will there was a way. That if the two were determined to carry on an affair, torrid or otherwise, the presence of a Weasley would hardly deter them.

Whether she had been ignoring him, as he worried, or merely as busy as she seemed to be, today he would be having a meal with his wife. She was probably too tired to go out. And too ill. But not too tired or ill for some of Molly Weasleys famous soup sure to cure what ails you. And he had a big container of it spelled to the perfect temperature with some of those muggle crackers that she liked that were stupidly named because they looked nothing like oysters.

Yes, today, his wife would be sitting down to a decent meal with her loving husband. And she could damned well gaze adoringly at him for his thoughtfulness.

She was sick so office sex was probably out. Was office make out session out too? He intended to push that boundary.

Grinning he pushed open the door to her lab with his foot while balancing his packages in one hand and stopped dead at the sight before him.

Hermione's blouse was unbuttoned and Grey's hands were on her bare stomach. Both looked up at him startled.

Without stopping to think or question the scene before him he dropped the soup and crackers crossed the room in several long strides and before the other man could say a word drew back his arm and landed a solid punch to the healer's jaw that left the younger man unconscious on the floor.

"DRACO!" Hermione screamed "What are you doing?!" she dropped to the floor beside the unconscious man.

"What am _I_ doing? I am not the one who is sitting in a room half naked with another man Hermione." He sneered.

"Half…. Draco… he was examining me." she said angrily healing the bruise on Grey's jaw as he slowly came to.

"Oh I could see that very well." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"A MEDICAL exam Draco." She glared at him "because he is a _healer_."

He did feel a little bad, she had been sick, "Well, why wasn't he using his wand then?" he asked stubbornly.

"Because he is also a doctor and doctors prefer to use traditional techniques for these kind of exams." She placed her hand over her belly.

It was then that he noticed her belly had grown just a tiny bit fuller in spite of how ill she had been, causing his eyes to grow round. "What… what kind of exam… exactly?"

"A pregnancy exam Draco… I have been suspecting for some time." She began buttoning her blouse. "I had not wanted to say anything just yet."

He noticed she looked worried and that she glanced over at Grey.

"Oh, I… shit" he said "I feel like an arse for over reacting the way I did…"

"No hard feelings" Grey said with a shrug and a smile "if I came in and some guy was touching my half naked wife with no context I would have responded the same way. I told her she should have let you know."

"And just why _have_ you been hiding this from me?" he asked concerned. Did she not want another child? Did she not want his child? Did she…

Hermione could see all of the self doubt playing across his features. "Draco… there is a problem…"

His heart clenched in fear "What kind of problem? Is there something wrong with the baby?" he looked at Grey.

"No not the baby, at least not yet…" Grey said carefully.

Hermione pulled up her sleeve and showed him the scar where Bellatrix had carved "mudblood" in to her arm. It had black tendrils running from it.

"What… what is that?" he grabbed her arm gently.

"It is a little present your aunt left" she whispered "should I ever try to intermingle with a pureblood."

"But the Weasleys… they are part of the Sacred 28…" he whispered.

"Apparently not as sacred as one might have believed…" she said flatly.

"It… it could have been the Malfoys she was protecting" Draco said.

"Why would she have felt the need to protect the Malfoys? From me?" Hermione was confused.

Draco rolled his eyes. "There may have been rumors that you and I were… involved… in school… you can't seriously mean to say you never heard those rumors?"

"No. But it hardly matter now I suppose. Grey has been helping me stem the curse. Right now it is contained to my arm, but it won't stay there indefinitely."

"How dangerous is this?" Draco asked Grey.

"If we cannot find a way to stop it, neither Hermione nor your daughter will survive." He said grimly.

"Daughter…" Draco said putting a hand on Hermione's gently rounded belly.

"We will beat this Draco. Bellatrix didn't win the first time and she isn't going to win this time." He nodded and pulled her in to his arms.


	7. The New Potion Master

**Chapter 6**

"I said I am going Draco Malfoy and that is final." Hermione was pulling a brush through her hair so viciously he knew it had to be incredibly painful. He gently took it away from her and finished brushing her hair in silence.

It had been one week since Draco had found out Hermione was pregnant and in her opinion he had been annoyingly… _close_. His latest tangent was about her work at the lab.

In Draco's opinion, his wife had become an unreasonable harridan determined to make his final days on the earth filled with unease and dread.

"You are working with unstable potion ingredients that could… I don't know" he said running his hands frustrated through his hair " _blow_ _up_ or worse." She was not sure what his definition of worse was, being blown up in a lab accident seemed pretty extreme to here. Not that this was going to happen, there weren't any explosives involved and she had to talent for making harmless items combust violently.

"Merlin, Draco, I am NOT Seamus Finnegan. I am perfectly capable of working in my own laboratory without blowing myself up." she responded teasingly.

He did not so much as crack a smile, that was not the most optimistic sign she had seen, she could usually tease him into calming down. He was clearly in no mood to be calm about this. In fact it appeared he was just getting started.

" _In_ _addition_ " he continued in a tone that suggested she had just said the stupidest thing he had heard that morning "you have been exhausted lately. It is not good for you or Carina." Hermione had bowed to his wish to continue naming children after stars and constellations as long as she got veto power.

She gently touched her slightly rounded belly "Draco, I am not going to do anything to injure the baby."

"Or yourself" he reminded her sternly.

"Or myself. If Grey agrees it will cause no harm will you agree to stop your ridiculous campaign to keep me from my work?"

She knew she had gone too far when his jaw tightened. "It is now ridiculous to want my wife and child to be safe?!"

Getting up she wrapped her arms around his middle and laid her head on his chest. "No, of course not. I am sorry, that was thoughtless and cruel of me to say that."

He pulled her tighter against him and stroked her hair, but did not quite trust himself to speak just yet.

"What if we make a compromise?" Hermione asked soothingly.

"What sort of compromise did you have in mind?" Draco was suspicious of his little Gryffindor wife's "compromises". If she had been a Slytherin she would have … no scratch that, he thought, she would have used cunning and deceit to get her way and he would have smiled through it. It was much better for her to be the sort of in your face fighter she was. He smiled over her head. He certainly never had to wonder what she was thinking.

"I will hire a potion master to handle all of the actual work. I will touch nothing unstable" except you, you unreasonable arse, she thought to herself "I will work half days when Grey thinks it appropriate and I will stop working when he says to."

"Without argument? No trying to "compromise" yourself in to a … I don't know, work at home situation?" He knew her so well.

She laughed up at him and slapped his arm."Have I become so predictable?"

"Merlin's arse Hermione, when you didn't like how my treatment was going you moved yourself in to my damned rooms! Not that I am complaining about how that turned out." He slid his hands down to give her bum a gentle squeeze.

"That may not have been about work, maybe I was just trying to get into your robes." She said with a cheeky grin.

"A witch trying to get in to my robes typically does not spend half a day color coordinating my schedule and debating how much time I should be allowed to take a shower since it conflicted with your need for me to have precisely fifteen minutes of quiet contemplation during that time." He raised an eyebrow at her fondly remembering when she first entered his life again.

Laughing she gave up "Fine, fine, when Grey says no more work I stop working. Entirely."

Mollified for the moment he asked "Who did you have in mind for the position of potion master?"

"I had not given it any thought until now, I suppose Seamus is out?" she grinned up at him.

Giving her a warning squeeze he said "I have someone in mind, she is brilliant. I know you two did not get along in school but…"

"We are past all of that who did you have in mind?" she took the seat Draco pulled out for her and sighed contentedly as he pulled her feet up on to a foot stool.

"Pansy Parkinson." He waited for her reaction. Asking his pregnant wife to work with an ex-girlfriend was probably the bravest, least Slytherin thing he had ever done.

"Oh… ummm…" Hermione could not voice her objection without revealing Pansy had been a patient. It was not technically a conflict of interest but it did muddy the waters. And she had already risked her license and professional integrity when she began a relationship with Draco…

"Pansy is the best potion master I know. There is no one I trust more to help with your curse or the Greengrass problem." He still refused to acknowledge any of this would help Astoria. Only his son and future heirs.

"Oh, I don't doubt her abilities, I always knew that she was far brighter than she let on it is only…." What on earth could she use as an objection?

"I understand this may feel awkward given past relationships, but those should have no bearing on what we are accomplishing here." He hoped he could convince her to see reason.

"How did you know about our past relationship? Did she tell you about…" she could not finish the sentence without compromising doctor/patient confidentiality, but she was surprised. Pansy had not been to visit since they got married and was not at the wedding, so Hermione had assumed that she and Draco were no longer close. Was Pansy avoiding Draco because of her?

Draco, for his part , had completely misinterpreted her statement "You had a".. he coughed " _relationship_ with… Pansy?"

"Wait… what?" Hermione asked confused "what were _you_ talking about?"

"MY past relationship with Pansy." He clarified.

Hermione put her head in her hands "Oh. That was in school… I had not really thought about that."

"OK, your turn, what relationship?" he had seriously misjudged Granger and her wild ways he decided.

"I... think you need to discuss that with Pansy…" she said, at a loss for words "but if she is willing I see no reason not to hire her on."

"I will owl her" he began walking towards the owlery.

"NOW?" she was amused, she should have known he would not let this go. His blush finally clued her in on exactly what he had thought the nature of their relationship to be.

"Yes, now." If his wife wasn't going to give him details, Pansy sure as hell was. Who would have that Hermione Granger and Pansy Parkinson…

He gave himself a good shake and wrote a quick note to Pansy sending it off at once.

Once he finished owling Pansy he had tea sent for and joined his wife to wait.

In less than half an hour Pansy was stepping through their floo. To Draco's surprise she ignored his out stretched arms and immediately went to Hermione.

"Healer Doctor Granger!" she exclaimed "It has been so long. I am so sorry I missed the wedding." She pulled Hermione out at arm's length "I was on vacation broadening my horizons. Just like the Healer doctor ordered."

Hermione laughed, it was Pansy who had first started calling her Healer Doctor Granger and the title had stuck.

"Pansy, I am glad to see you looking so well. But please, it is just Hermione now." Hermione offered her guest a seat and poured tea.

Pansy sat down and the two women spent a few minutes talking about Pansy's vacation and completely ignoring Draco.

"So, I guess I am just a part of the furniture now?" asked Draco partly in amusement partly in annoyance. It was clear when Pansy walked in what the nature of their relationship had been.

"Yes, but a very pretty part" quipped Pansy "now hush; I want to know why my Healer Doctor has summoned me."


	8. The Potion Master and The Healer

**Chapter 7**

Hermione laughed "Healer OR Doctor not both, Merlin Pansy, ever since you started that everyone calls me Healer Doctor Granger, that name stuck worse than any rotten name you ever called me in school and I have to stick that on a business card!"

"Oh hush, you love it and you know it. Now, why did you need me? What on earth can I, a mere mortal do, that great Healer Doctor Granger, Minister of Magic herself cannot do?" Pansy sipped the wine Draco had brought her.

Hermione rubbed her face tiredly "This." She pulled back her sleeve and showed the carving in her arm with the black tendrils spidering out from it.

Pansy blanched at the sight "That… that is some pretty dark stuff.. is that where…?"

Hermione nodded.

"Crazy bitch, I wish she were still alive to do a little carving of my own." Sometimes having Pansy as a devoted patient was a little scary Hermione thought, contemplating the other woman.

"I am certain this is not good for your recovery, Pansy." Hermione admonished her.

"Screw my recovery, that bitch turned a school yard taunt in to a curse designed to kill you. Refuse to grow up much?" Pansy's eyes narrowed over Hermione's arm. "Still, how can I help? I am a potion master, curses are not my area."

Over the next couple of hours Hermione proceeded to tell Pansy everything that she and Grey and Bill had been working on and for whom.

"I can't believe you would help that bitch. Let her rot." Pansy sneered.

Draco laughed, speaking up for the first time "That was what I said too, but this could be passed down to Scorpius' daughters or granddaughters. We are using Astoria as a test subject, if she dies afterwards, good."

"Well, at least you haven't gone completely soft living with the good Healer Doctor" Pansy said to him "but I am not sure what I can help with."

"We need a good potion master. But if you have any ideas beyond that I am listening." Hermione told her hopefully.

"Cut the arm off?" Pansy looked once again at the black tendrils "before it spreads further."

"Not amusing Pansy." Draco looked just this side of furious."

"I wasn't joking. Cut it off, better an arm than the rest of her." That was Pansy, ever the pragmatic.

"We considered that" chimed in Hermione, causing Draco to stare at her "It would work except…"

"Except?" asked Pansy.

"Except for the baby…" Hermione placed a hand on her belly.

"Merlin, don't you people know contraceptive spells?" Pansy sighed "You really DO need me to make sure the idiots you already hired don't kill you both."

She may have got off to a much better start with Grey Ewen later if she had not said those very words to him in the same superior tone.

"I have not lost a single cursed patient yet Miss Parkinson, what is _your_ track record?" Grey asked her angrily.

"You haven't last one yet because you graduated, what? One? Two? Weeks ago? And I don't have patients, I have customers, and I have never lost a single one, no qualifier needed." She said with her customary Pansy smirk.

"I will have you know I was in Hogwarts one year behind you." Grey's eyes were narrowed. Hermione was pretty sure that technically their boss or not he was wholly irrelevant.

"A year behind? You must have been Hufflepuff for me not to remember you."

"Being a hard working Hufflepuff is better than being some overly ambitious snake."

She was pretty sure she was no longer even relevant as a patient.

"As fascinating as who was in which house some two decades ago is" Hermione finally interrupted them "we do have a problem to focus on. I would like to NOT die and I would really like for my daughter not to die, and while we are NOT killing people off, could we maybe start on the whole not dooming my future step-granddaughters as well? You know, since we have to be at work today anyway?"

At least the two of them had the good graces to look embarrassed by their little spat. Bill just looked at the three of them amused over his tea.

Remembering his responsibility to his patient, Grey came over to check on Hermione. With a diagnostic wave of her wand he said "You have had quite enough excitement for the day, I want you to take the rest of the day off while we work."

Looking between the two of them she hesitated "I am not sure that is such a good idea Grey…"

"I am certain that two professionals can manage to acquit ourselves in your absence Minister. Now go home to your husband. Healer's orders. And I want someone to accompany you, I don't like your elevated blood pressure."

"I can't imagine why my blood pressure would be elevated" she grumbled.

"Come on Mione, I will take you home" Bill said "Mum wants me to get measurements of your nursery anyways for some hideous things she plans to knit for the baby." He smirked.

"Wonderful" she murmured, picturing curtains with big "C"'s on them.

Leaving Grey and Pansy alone, Bill and Hermione went down to the fllos together.

"Well… that was certainly… bracing" Hermione said laughingly to Bill.

"I'll say, you were schoolmates with her, was she always like that?" he took her arm once they were outside of the lifts to escort her to the floos.

"Oh goodness no. In school she was quite unpleasant. Absolutely intolerable. She is actually quite lovely now. A bit sarcastic, but quite loyal. She really grew up after the war." Hermione told him.

Bill laughed, certain Hermione was having him on. "Well, if that was Pansy being "quite lovely" I would certainly hate to see what she is like when she is being "absolutely intolerable then."

Hermione laughed and let Bill escort her home where thankfully Draco was not home to panic over her half day at work and blood pressure.

In spite of their somewhat caustic beginning… and truth be told caustic sarcastic every single minute of every single day thereafter, Grey and Pansy worked well together. They had break throughs and in sights that would never have occurred without the other. And when Bill was thrown in the mix they began making real progress.

As far as they were concerned Hermione was their primary concern. The fact that she disagreed only meant they had taken to hiding this from her. Draco knew and heartily approved. He cared about his future grandchildren, but his wife and daughter were in danger of imminent death now.

Astoria could hang for all he cared. In fact, he would cheerfully provide the rope.

In three weeks while Hermione was relaxing at home with Draco, Scorpius and Rose the three came to visit with news.

"We have discovered a path to an answer" Bill began.

"But not an answer?" Draco clarified.

"It is an answer, we are just missing components." Pansy pitched in.

"Hermione isn't some potion we are brewing Parkinson, she is a patient." Grey glared at her.

"A patient who needs a potion and that potion needs a component!" Pansy sneered at him.

Hermione rubbed her temples and sighed.

"Get to the point!" snapped Draco.

"We need the knife." Bill said, holding up a hand when his two cohorts started to chime in.

"I know where that is buried" Harry had buried the ugly thing with Dobby.

"Then we need the original curse." Bill said.

Draco turned even paler than usual. "My aunt created all of her own curses. The only one she ever allowed near her… can't help us."

"Well you had better convince them to help us, because not only is this the solution we need here, but we can also likely tailor it to the Greengrass case." Snapped Pansy.

"You don't understand, it isn't a matter of won't help us… he literally _can't_ help us. He has been obliviated." Draco dropped his head in to his hands.

"I… I can fix that…" Hermione said quietly.

"And break a half dozen laws in doing so" Draco mumbled.

Bill barked a harsh laugh "That has never stopped Mione before. I am still working on making sure no one can break in to Gringotts again."

Draco sighed and nodded "We will do it, but we will likely have to kill him afterwards if we can't obliviate him successfully again."

Hermione took his hands "We don't know that."

"Think of Rose and Hugo and Scorpius. Do you really want to crush Rose when the grandfather she practically worships starts telling her that her mother is a filthy mudblood?" he looked up sharply as they heard a gasp from the door and saw rose and Scorpius standing there, brooms in hand. They had clearly come to ask permission to go flying.

"Rosie…" Draco started "You weren't supposed to…"

Rose ran with Scorpius following fast after her.


	9. Lucius and Rose

**Chapter 8**

Scorpius found Rose sobbing on a bench in the gardens. Sitting next to her he was not quite sure what to say. He had to put up with a lot of crap over the years. Everything from people having thought he was the love child of his mother an Voldemort to being just plain the son of a death eater. It had got better with his step mom being Hermione Granger, but better was not the same as being perfect.

He still never understood how rose could be so close to his grandfather. She knew exactly who he was. She was under no delusions about him. They had read everything about both of their families. He was with her when they had read all about the trials. They had even speculated about how maybe Lucius had somehow beat the obliviate he was a pretty powerful wizard after all. The only thing she ever said was Lucius let her be herself.

So why had this upset her so much? "Rose?" he asked softly "are you going to be OK?"

"They want to kill Grandfather Scorpius. It isn't going to be OK."

Oh.

"Rosie…" it was his father.

"How could you Draco…"

"Scorp.. could you leave us alone for a bit?" his dad asked.

"Sure Dad." Scorpius squeezed Rose's shoulder and left.

"Rosie… I know you don't understand what it was like back then…"

"You are wrong… do you think I haven't been told?" she whispered.

"Rose… your grandfather and I…"

"Draco… I know… I know why you wear long sleeved shirts… I know what a death eater is. I know, OK. I know the stuff Grandfather did. I read the trial transcripts." She said plainly.

"How?!" he shouted angrily. "Who would give kids that kind of trash to read.

Rose was not upset, she knew he was not angry with her. She shrugged. "It wasn't hard to get. I wanted to know. Dad wasn't very good at locking his cabinets up. When he was out, Scorpius and I got in and read them."

Draco went pale. He never wanted Scorpius to read any of that either. He had no idea Ron kept those transcripts in the house. He buried his face in his hands. "Rose I…"

"Draco, you and Grandfather were already judged, I am not judging you again. You were absolved. You weren't much older than me." She laid her head on his shoulder. "I can't imagine making those decisions at your age. But I would do anything to keep Mom and Dad and Hugo safe. So I get it, OK? And so does Scorpius. Except Scorpius… He'd have killed Dumbledore, you know? He'd have done it. We talked about it. To save you? Oh yeah. Less scruples. Plus we have each other. That makes it easier. I think we are more afraid of that than what we learned."

Draco shuddered at the thought.

"But Grandfather, he doesn't have anyone except me who believes in him right now. Grandmother loves him, but that isn't the same, because she just does what he wants. Can…can I talk to him first. Please? I.. I love him, sure, but I won't just do what he wants just because of that, and I think he needs to hear that." Rose looked at him with such pleading eyes he found it hard to deny her.

"Rosie, there is something else you need to know. Your Mom and the baby, my aunt, she… hurt your mom, cursed her. This… thing your grandfather knows… it could help her and Scorpius. But he might not tell us if he gets his memory back. We may have to… force him to tell us. It… won't be easy. He hates people like your Mom and you when he remembers to. And he would hate the baby." He hated to be so honest but she needed to know.

"He never had the choice to make before. Now he can make a choice. Maybe he will still make the wrong choice. But maybe not. Maybe I can help." He hated the innocence in her eyes. He hated that he knew it would be crushed. That he would be the cause of it being crushed.

"We have to ask your Mom." He said carefully.

"But not my Dad…" she said wisely.

"Not unless she insists. We won't bring it up." he smiled.

"Says the Slytherin." she smiled back.

"Says the Slytherin." He held out his hand.

By the following week Lucius had been told of the plan to restore his memory and why. All he had done was raise an eyebrow at first. Finally he said "You know it is unlikely I will agree to assist you without… _prompting_ …"

"I do not intend to torture you in to giving up the information I need Lucius" Hermione said.

He laughed "Healer Doctor Granger torture someone? Of course not." His tone said he believed she may well be capable of it "I do suggest you keep a bottle of veritaserum on hand however. It may prove useful. In any event what you are proposing is highly illegal and puts my freedom very much in jeopardy."

"It is possible to strip you of the memories once again…" she said.

"Possible, but not assured..." he raised an eyebrow.

"Clever. No, not assured. It may not work." Draco added.

"If it were me, I would take permanent measures at that point to assure I was no threat." He was clearly testing them.

"So would I, however, my stepdaughter may disapprove of that." Draco frowned.

Lucius closed his eyes at the mention of Rose.

"May or does? How did Rose come across the knowledge of what you intend to do?" he was clearly not happy that Rose was involved.

"Rose inadvertently overheard us taking." Hermione said quietly. "She was distressed."

"Of course she was." Lucius said angrily. "Where is she?"

"In the garden" Draco said "She wishes… to discuss the matter with you." He supposed he should not have been surprised at the connection between the two that Lucius would have known that Rose was waiting for him somewhere.

Lucius stood up and walked off.

Rose was comforted when she heard the sound of her grandfather's walking stick behind her. She knew that other's were terrified of that tapping sound but ever since she was a little girl that decisive tap had always meant safety. That no one would be able to harm her. The owner of that stick would move heaven and earth to see her safe.

Would that change soon?

She felt his arm link through hers and rested her head on his arm and felt his hand brush through her hair. The smell of the lilacs soothed her.

"Ahh my Rose. Your parents are planning changes for us." His cultured tones soothed her as much as the garden did.

Nodding she turned towards him.

"I… I told them I am not afraid… But I am… a little." She confessed.

"What are you afraid of, my love?" he asked gently.

"Remember when I came and told you about how everyone kept expecting me to be the best and to be brave because that was how my parents were?" she said.

He nodded as they began stolling trough the gardens.

"Of course, and do you remember what I told you?" he asked.

"You said I would always have a choice in how to behave. That I did not have to choose to act like my parents or anyone else." She smiled at him. "That I could just be me."

"Exactly." He smiled at her.

"You were the first one who ever said that to me." She smiled back.

"Do you remember what you said back to me?" he asked.

"That you also did not have to act the way YOUR parents did. That you could just be you. That you could choose to love who you loved and hate who you hate and it did not have to be based on anything other than that they were arseholes?" she entwined her fingers with his.

He laughed "And what else did you confessed?"

She frowned thinking back to that day "That Scorpius and I never believed that you had been obliviated at all. That we thought you were too powerful a wizard to let a bunch of old fools play with your mind like that? That you would rather be imprisoned or sentenced to death than under someone else's control?"

"Ahhh… you should have been my blood granddaughter, you really do understand me so well, my Rosebud. Take this to your mother. Tell her you and Scorpius found it in the attic while playing. It is the original curse. Our little secret." He smiled down at her winking.

Rose smiled at him in full understanding finally.


	10. The Original Curse

**Chapter 9**

Rose waited until the next day when it would not seem so unusual or sudden to approach her mother and step father.

But could she do it? Could she actually lie to the famous Healer Doctor Granger? The woman who helped take down Lord Voldemort when she was just a kid? And the man who had that same monster living in his house when he was the same age?

She had the benefit of knowing they would not be expecting her to flat out lie to them. Right? She told Draco there is nothing she would not have done to protect her family, and her grandfather was part of her family. How could she just sit back knowing they were just going to kill him.

Oh she knew he probably deserved it. Heck, he did deserve it. He did some pretty bad things. But he was trying to change. He hadn't done any of those things recently. He was a good grandfather. He went to muggle places with her. They even rode buses and went to movies and he would never have done any of those things before. She was sure of it. And he did those things with her. And she was a half blood.

And it wasn't to make him look good. Because no one knew they did those things together. It didn't make any news papers. No societal gossip rags screamed "Former Death Eater takes Half Blood Grand Daughter to see Titanic for Third Time Manages to Stay Awake!". Those were not the sort of things someone got awards for. Though undoubtedly he probably thought he deserved at least a Merlin First Class. If the way he sighed through the second half and murmured there was absolutely enough room on the debris for both of them was any indication.

She decided Draco was the best to go to. Doing her homework at his feet she suddenly looked up as if she had a sudden inspiration.

"Draco… I… I need you to take me to Grandfather and Grandmother Malfoy's old manor!"

He raised an eyebrow "You hardly need me for that Rosie, the wards recognize you better than me at this point I dare say." He smirked at her.

Blushing she said "Not all of them… I need to go to the attics."

"We had that talk when you were twelve Rose and we caught you and Scorpius up there, you are not allowed in the attics." He did not mention they had all assumed she and Scorpius had nipped up to the attics for a bit of snogging, it had turned out not to be true, still… there were some dark and dangerous things in the attics, no place for children to play.

"I know, but I remember seeing some of Bellatrix' things up there, journals and such… if she wrote down some of her curses as she invented them…" Rose let her thought trail off.

"Then the original may still be up there! I don't know why I never thought of that!" Draco looked excited.

"Because you are not the daughter of the brightest witch of her age?" Rose smirked at him.

"Now I see why your mother says that being compared to me is not a compliment" he laughed. "But I will go look, you are staying here."

"Please let me go, Draco" Rose pleaded "I know where I saw them and it will go much faster. I will stay right beside you and I won't touch anything you say I am not allowed to."

"You really should have been sorted in to Slytherin with Al and Scorpius you manipulative little witch." He ruffled her hair fondly.

"Is that a yes?" she looked at him hopefully.

"That is a "touch the barest tip of your tiniest finger to the smallest dust bunny and I will have you scrubbing chamber pots without magic faster than you can say Helga Hufflepuff" Rose Weasley." He warned.

Rose agreed willingly, happy that her stepfather was allowing her to go, but also feeling guilty that she was deceiving him. Draco had been really awesome with both her and Hugo. And even though he and her Dad bickered sometimes mostly they got a long.

But what choice did she have? She couldn't just sit back and let them kill her grandfather. Or worse, mess up his mind. And she knew he would rather be dead than have his mind wiped clean. Even by his own son.

It wasn't fair. Oh, it was probably fair to Lucius, she knew that. She wasn't _that_ naïve or foolish. Nor had she been lying when she said she read the trial transcripts. Her grandfather and that mad woman, along with a bunch of other death eaters had attacked her Mum and Dad and Uncle Harry and their friends in the Department of Mysteries on a madman's orders all for a stupid prophecy. Like, ever heard of a pensieve arsehole? Seriously, kidnapping Trewlaney, pulling her memories and sticking them in a pensieve would have been a lot less trouble. Were all of these evil fuckers so over the top dramatic? No wonder they lost. They spent all of their time in stupid elaborate plans instead of taking over the world.

She meant it wasn't fair to _her_. Aside from Scorpius, Lucius was the only member of her family she felt like really understood her. No judgments. Grandma Narcissa loved her too, she did spend an awful lot of time with her. But Narcissa wanted to mold her in to a societal wife. And she wasn't blind as to why. Everyone thought she did not fully understand yet her own mind or feelings. She did. She knew from a very young girl that the way she felt about Scorpius was just… different… from how she felt about Hugo or her cousins. Even James and Albus, and they weren't even blood related. Or not closely blood related. They had done the family tree and they were sort of blood related but it took some serious maths to determine how.

But it wasn't like they were running off to get married any time soon. They had talked about it. They wanted to grow up first. Date other people, but no sex. That was a if rule for both of them. A bit of snogging was OK. But sex was a deal breaker. If either felt they were going to have sex with someone else it was OK, but it meant the two of them would not happen. They would just be brother and sister after that.

She thought about all of this on the way to Malfoy Manor. She admitted to a bit of morbid fascination with the place. So much history had happened here. Bad history yes, and it still frightened her, but history never the less. She sure wouldn't want to come here alone, but with Draco or her grandfather to hold her hand if she got frightened, she was OK.

Like now, a large peacock ran at them screaming and she gave a little squeal and grabbed Draco's hand. He looked down at her in amusement. "Are you sure you want to do this Rosie?"

'I'm not scared, it just startled me." She said in a squeak.

"mmhmmm." He smirked down at her.

"I am 13 years old, Draco Malfoy. I am not scared of pigeons with delusions of grandeur." She let go of his arm and marched off towards the manor.

He laughed at how much she reminded him of her mother in that moment.

Once inside they had to sit through tea with his mother where she grilled Rose on school activities, her extracurricular involvement and managed to wheedle her in to promising to assist with the next charity ball. It wasn't until she managed to gain her promise that Rose realized this also meant shopping for a new ball gown. The most detested activity in Roses opinion. Narcissa merely smiled in to her teacup as Rose groaned. While Rose may have made a good Slytherin, Narcissa actually had been one. Draco shook his head "Evil mother, just evil."

"Why Draco, I can't imagine what you could mean." Narcissa had always wanted a daughter and she made the most of rose, willing or not. Looking over at rose Draco knew it was largely unwilling.

"Stop slouching, Rose. It is unbecoming." Chided Lucius. He may love his granddaughter but he knew which side his cauldron was lit on.

Glaring at her traitorous grandfather Rose sat up straight and grabbed another biscuit from the tray before looking at Draco, "Don't we have anywhere else to be?"

"Manners Rose." He smirked "Or you will be going to cotillion next."

She glared at him.

"Oh very well, we do have a mission. Mother, Rose wanted to look through the attic for some old books to use in a school project. May we?" he asked smoothly.

Narcissa frowned "Draco, dear, some of the things up there may not be suitable for school projects…"

"Don't worry mother, we won't be using Great-Grandmother Black's knickers in a quilt or anything, just some of the old diaries for dates and such" Draco winced as his mother smacked him on the knee with her wand.

"Very well, just don't touch anything dangerous, and mind your porky mouth." She said wiping her wand off as though it had been offended by being used in such a low brow activity. For all he knew it had been.

Escaping before he was clobbered again, they fled to the attic.

Giving it a good half hour, as though it took her some time to remember where they had been playing Rose finally "found" some old diaries, surprisingly enough they actually _were_ some of Bellatrix' old things, she had not been fibbing about that she and Scorpius really had been told off for playing about in those old dusty tomes and such. Slipping the paper Lucius had given her into one of the books she called out "Found it!"

Telling her not to touch anything and rushing over Draco carefully took the book from her. Hugging her tightly Draco said proudly, you did it Rosie, I really think this is it! I think you saved your Mum and the baby!

Rose blushed, but it was with guilt not pride. She did hate lying to him. She told herself the ends justified the means, but she was having trouble believing it. She hadn't even been able to tell Scorpius what she had done. She knew he would understand. He always did, but then he would be just as guilty as she was.

No, if this all blew up, it would just be her and Lucius taking the blame.

But hopefully it did not all blow up.


	11. A Cure For Astoria

**Chapter 10**

With the original curse in hand it did not take long for the dream team to tailor a cure. Within two weeks they had a potion that was slowly bringing the spidering black tendrils to fading grey lines. Bill estimated that in another week or so even those would fade to nothing. The scar itself would never completely fade, but it would be no worse than before and it would no longer hide a ticking time bomb.

Draco decided as soon as Hermione was completely out of danger he would be taking his family on a vacation, school be damned.

The Minister of Magic decided, of course, that school would not, in fact, be damned, that summer was soon enough for a nice long holiday.

The Wizengamot was still out on that one. The Dream Team was taking bets on who would win. Smart money was on the Minister.

Grey and Pansy were still at one another's throats on a daily basis. The latest had been on the vector for delivery of the cure. Pansy had insisted that the cure should be delivered via a topical potion so as to risk no harm to the baby. Grey insisted the most efficacious way to make certain the potion was delivered to full effect was intravenously. They both tried to pull first Hermione, and then Draco into the argument when Bill refused to take sides. Even Harry was dragged in when he had come by to remind them that he had a training for new recruits scheduled that afternoon. He had slowly raised his hands murmuring "I come in peace" before slowly backing out of the room.

They had all left the two to shout it out telling them to let them know when they had come to a decision.

When the room grew deathly quiet Hermione decided they had better check on them in case they had killed one another in absence of a mediator. Her jaw hit the floor to see Grey had Pansy pushed up against a wall tongue deep in her face and hands tangled in her hair. She turned to say something to her husband and Bill and was shocked to see Draco hand over a pouch of coins to Bill with an annoyed shrug.

"Didn't think she'd go for the pompous arse" he snorted.

Pansy without taking her lips off of Grey threw something at their heads causing them all to duck and slam the door behind them.

It was finally decided that a regimen of intravenous and topical would do quite nicely, as would dinner for the potion master and healer.

Another two weeks saw the tailor of the same cure for the Greengrass cure, but Hermione was not quite ready to just hand it over. First, the Malfoy barrister was called over to the Manor, paperwork was drawn up and he accompanied Hermione to the hospital to visit with Astoria.

Hermione found she was not at all distressed to find the other woman was looking worse since the last time she had seen her. She had never thought she was the vindictive sort but with this woman she could make an exception.

"Astoria." She said by way of greeting, skipping over all other pleasantries.

If the woman was surprised to see the barrister at Hermione;s side she covered it well. "Miss Granger." Astoria returned.

"That is Mrs. Granger-Malfoy." Hermione reminded her.

"Yes, of course." Astoria's eyes narrowed only slightly, it was clear she did not wish to be reminded that Hermione now had what Astoria herself had cast aside. "Do you have some news for me?"

"In good time, first, I have conditions." Hermione informed the other woman as the barrister pulled up a chair for both of them. "Thank you, Thomas." Hermione smiled at the man gratefully.

"Of course, Mrs. Malfoy, we must be careful of your condition." He pured her a glass of water.

As soon as he said this Astoria's eyes narrowed on Hermione's stomach "Am I to assume congratulations are in order?"

"Yes, we are expecting, if that is what you are asking." Hermione touched her belly gently, smiling.

"Is… is that what you have come to discuss?" Astoria asked. It was not uncommon in the very rare case of a pureblood divorce for the new wife to want the first child to be declared a bastard so that the new child could be declared heir. If that was what this trumped up little mudblood thought was going to happen she could think again!

"No, my child is no concern of yours. I have come to discuss your cure." Hermione said succinctly.

"Then you have found one?!" Astoria asked greedily.

"My team has found a cure for the Greengrass line, whether you will be a recipient of that cure or not depends entirely upon your signature on these papers." Hermione said, coldly.

"Oh? And what would I be signing away? Scorpius' birthright?" she sneered.

"No, you will sign away your rights to Scorpius. You will never again attempt to contact him. Nor his children. Once you are cured you will move away. A sum has been set aside for your use. If you do this, you will receive the cure. If you do not, you will die in this bed. Either way, you will never come near him again."

"This is extortion!" she cried out.

"Why yes, it most certainly is, I am so glad to know all that Hogwarts education did not go to waste. Should you ever attempt to break the terms of this agreement any funds that you have used will become payable in full immediately in addition to the maximum compounded interest allowable by law. You may certainly confer with your counsel. I understand from your healers you do not have much time to do so. And I also understand your counselors are on vacation in Bulgaria at the moment. It would seem someone procured tickets to the Bulgarian Quidditch playoffs for them." She smiled at her husband's ex-wife.

"You… you made sure I would have no time to make any other decision…" Astoria sputtered.

"Did I? I can't imagine where I would have got an idea like that..?"

"I don't have a choice…" She glared at Hermione.

"Oh but you do, you can choose to die. Or you can choose to sign these documents and take the cure your healers already have in their hands waiting for you. It is all the same to me. You wouldn't be the first petty dictator I have taken down. You aren't even the first this week. In fact, if you sign now, this may constitute a record for me in time and funds saving. That would certainly make my constituents happy. If they were allowed to know. They are not of course. There is a non disclosure agreement curse placed on the signing. An improvement of one I created back in Hogwarts…" she saw the other woman's face go very pale. "Oh I see you heard of that bit of magic. Yes, quite impressive if I do say so myself. It has vastly improved since then, do you want to know how? No? Just as well. May I assume we are of an accord then? Good Thomas will you handle the particulars? My husband is waiting to take me to a celebratory dinner with our children. You really must come around for dinner soon, and bring your wife and children." She leaned down to kiss him on the cheek. "Good day to you Astoria. I expect I shall not see you again, dear. At least it is my most fervent hope. Do endeavor to die somewhere far from us."

"That is a horrible vile woman." She heard Astoria hiss behind her as she closed the door.

"Well she did help take down the most dangerous dark wizard ever known, did you think she did that by blowing kisses at him? Sign here Miss Greengrass." She heard Thomas say with barely concealed disgust. The man had no use for vapid simpering pureblood women.

Draco was indeed waiting for her downstairs. "Well, how did that go?"

"She actually seemed surprised that I wasn't very nice to her" Hermione laughed "Do we Gryffindors really have that sort of reputation?

"Well, maybe some do, but you? Merlin no, you have a vicious right hook and cruel mean streak." He grinned at her.

She whacked him in the arm. "See?"

They both laughed and walked out arm in arm to their favorite restaurant.

 **Healer Doctor Granger and the Blood Curse is now complete. Stay tuned for Healer Doctor Granger and the Pureblood Agenda. Just what HAS Lucius Malfoy been up to?**


	12. International Fan Day

AO3 is hosting IFD events. One allows you to win prizes for recommending three stories. While of course I would love one of mine to be in there, getting involved is the main thing

International Fan Day Rec.s CLICK HERE

archiveofourownDOTorg/admin_posts/9774?show_comments=true&view_full_work=false#comment_150051888


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